Haughton, 29, was among witnesses traced by police after the "apparently motiveless" 2am shooting at the Multiracial Centre in St Mary's Street, High Wycombe, on September 4, said prosecutor Michael Wood, QC.

The defendant told police he went to the event with friends. He admitted hearing a bang but said he could not tell where it came from.

Mr Wood said Haughton told officers on September 22: "I started to leave and noticed a girl on the floor with blood on her face. I didn't see anyone with a gun and was not even aware a shot had been fired."

But when police found a bullet casing at the scene carrying Haughton's fingerprint, he was arrested on suspicion of murder.

He claimed he left in a friend's car after the shot was heard and said: "None of us do (sic) it [the shooting]. It's not me".

He denied owning or taking a gun to the club that night, the court was told. When the fingerprint was put to him, he said it "couldn't be" but gave no explanation how it came to be on the cartridge, Mr Wood said.

Miss Derby had organised the event, called Summer Jam, on September 3 with her brother-in-law Oliver Williams. By the early hours of September 4, around 100 people had arrived. The night was due to end at 2am but a popular DJ arrived late and many were anxious to hear him, said Mr Wood.

"Throughout the evening there had been no trouble or incident at all," he said.

"At about 2.30am Miss Derby was dancing with Miss Humphrey by the speakers. As they were dancing a bang was heard. Miss Humphrey felt something brush past her top lip, she turned and saw Miss Derby lying on the floor."

Mr Wood said people started filtering out as police were called and one officer saw some people leave hurriedly in a car.

"Natasha was bleeding profusely from a gunshot wound in her head," he added.

She was taken to Wycombe General Hospital but following some brain scan tests, the decision was taken to turn off her life support machine on September 5.

A post-mortem examination revealed the bullet entered her head about two inches above her right ear and lodged in her skull, passing through her brain, Mr Wood said.

Haughton, of Rhine Close, denies counts

of both murder and manslaughter on September 4, and a further charge of having ammunition without a firearms certificate on a day unknown before September 5.